There have been times in my life when I took them. For weeks at a time, or months, even. Every day. My most successful stint involved taking a big handful every evening before bed. My grandfather swears by them and I wanted to be healthier. Of course because I was drinking a giant glass of water right before going to sleep, I always had to get up in the middle of the night to pee. So I finally put a stop to it.

I discovered that, no matter what, taking ANY pills in the morning makes me really sick to my stomach. It has for years. So the best time for me to take anything is after I’ve eaten. Usually after lunch.

No problem. I get back from lunch hour, sit down at my desk, and take a vitamin or two.

Only… Right around the time that stuff started getting truly bad with my gluten intolerance (early this summer), I realized that every time I’d take my vitamins I’d get seriously nauseous. Like sitting-at-my-desk-clutching-my-stomach-and-wanting-to-hurl nauseous. I mentioned it to a friend, who suggested I look into taking dye-free vitamins. They’re apparently harder to find, and they’re a bit more expensive (which strikes me as funny – why are we paying more to have LESS stuff in our products?), but they’re available at health food stores and Trader Joe’s (where I got mine – they’re also labeled gluten, lactose, sugar, and allergenic yeast free), so you shouldn’t have to order them off the internet or anything. And they work. I’ve been taking them now for about two weeks (most days, especially during the work week, since they’re at my desk) and haven’t gotten sick once.

Why do I mention this here? I mean, this dye sensitivity isn’t necessarily related to my gluten sensitivity, and my gum sensitivity, is it?

Well, of that I’m not sure. But I do know two things: 1) people who have sensitivities to certain foods usually have sensitivities to other foods/food additives, and 2) people who have sensitivities to certain foods often have absorption problems when it comes to getting nutrients. Many of us have so many issues with our absorption that our symptoms aren’t caused by the underlying allergy/disease/sensitivity but by our malabsorption of nutrients. So getting our proper vitamins is actually really important to us. And any way to get them without causing us further tummy troubles… Well, I count that as important.

I’ve been noticing a definite difference on days when I take my vitamins. Even Wednesday when I was so miserable, taking vitamins helped perk me up and make me able to get through the long evening (working after work is always fun, but necessary when you have a full time job in addition to your own business!). I also credit them for helping me get through this week (when everyone around me was sick, and I was working insane hours) without getting the full-blown flu. When your body is healthy, your defenses are healthy. Surely my body wasn’t totally healthy this week, but the vitamins were definitely an immunity booster.

Going dye-free for my vitamins just made sense. After all, why do I need to ingest more chemicals?